Chapter 25

 

 

Two weeks had passed, and Shannon dreaded what came when training was over. Months without Ryan, who he’d grown quite attached to. Ryan would be out of the country for most of the filming. While he spent a week in Maryland visiting his sister, and likely his father, who was still hanging on by a thread.

They’d spent the previous weekend on the yacht, alone. They had both spent time with each other’s friends.

Shelley was becoming more of a pain the longer time went on. Yeah, she was dealing with their father dying, but she kept begging him to come out sooner. And he was unwilling to give up the time with Ryan.

Selfish, sure, but she had Joel, her live-in boyfriend. She wasn’t nearly as alone as she attempted to claim, and he was frustrated by the ridiculous notion that Joel couldn’t offer the same support. Probably better.

He’d only spoke to his father one other time since he entered the hospital. And only because he called Shannon. And he attempted to persuade Shannon to come out to help his sister. He’d refused, and his father called him worthless.

Of course. And the sad thing was it didn’t come as any surprise and didn’t hurt nearly as bad as he would have expected. It was just more of what he expected from his father.

His phone rang, and he stared at it. Shelley. He rubbed at his face and thought about shutting it off.

Ryan was asleep in the bedroom.

Shannon sat at the dining room table with his laptop, attempting to focus on business. Only, he couldn’t concentrate for shit.

Shaking off his annoyance, he answered the call. “Good morning, Shelley.”

Her voice was full of tears. “You sure you can’t come out sooner?”

“Very. Less than a week. I’ll be there Saturday. I’m sorry.” He sat back in the chair and stared at the ceiling.

Ryan came out in boxer briefs and headed for the fridge.

He had to smile and totally missed whatever Shelley said. “Sorry, sis, what was that?”

She sighed. “Fine, I’ll just have to spend more time with Joel. But please don’t bail on me. Please.”

“I promised I’d be there. I’ll be there.”

Ryan turned to watch him. He knew the plan. And really, because they couldn’t be public about their relationship, it wouldn’t make sense for him to follow Ryan. And he had his own business to worry about. He couldn’t just ditch everything he’d built for that long.

“He may not make it,” Shelley whined.

“You know damn well I’m not coming for him. I’m coming for you. That’s it, you. No one else.”

“Yeah, you made that clear, but he keeps trying to tell you he’s sorry,” she growled.

“No, he hasn’t. He told me he was sorry once. The one other time he called he told me I was worthless because I wasn’t dropping my whole life to come help you with a man I won’t waste my time on.”

“Because it hurts him to know you don’t care. You said you aren’t hurting over that anymore.”

“Yeah, because I’m a big boy. I got over it when Dad disowned me while I was in a hospital bed, wondering if I would ever be able to use my hand again. There was no guarantee I would ever get back in shape enough to continue my career.”

“And he regrets his decisions.”

Shannon took a slow breath and counted to ten. His tone was calmer at least. “Could have fooled me. Look, I left all that in the past. Yeah, I forgive him but that doesn’t mean I forgot, or that I need my father in my life. I prefer to leave him in the past with the shit he said to me.”

“Damn it, why do you have to be so hard on him?” she snarled.

“Hard? I’m not giving him anything. He’s not part of my life now,” Shannon fired back, then let out a breath. “When he calls, I listen and don’t give him shit. But I’m not rushing out there because I have a job to do. One that is far more important to me than a man who told me he wished I’d died in battle so he didn’t have to be disappointed in my choices.”

“You don’t understand how your attitude affects him,” she whined.

He rubbed a hand over his face. “Look, I love you. I do. But I got to go. Have fun with Joel.” He hung up and looked up at Ryan who had moved to him.

“Sorry I woke you up.”

Shaking his head, Ryan touched his face, drawing his attention to those stunning blue eyes that made women everywhere swoon.

“God, you’re gorgeous,” Shannon murmured.

“You too. Look, if you need to go to your family, it would be fine.”

“I don’t want to go to them. I’m glad this job came up because honest to God, I don’t have a damned clue what I would do if it hadn’t. I would have felt the need to go, and possibly stay, and I don’t want to deal with him.”

“That bad?”

“You have no idea. I grew up in a house where it was predetermined I would be in the navy, that I would go to the Naval Academy and be an officer. I didn’t want any of it. I didn’t want to be an officer. I mean, I could have tried for that, but I was fine just being a Navy SEAL. That’s what I went for. I busted my ass for the hardest thing to get into so that he would be nowhere near me as an admiral.”

“High ranking?”

Shannon nodded. “Yup. The injury was a blessing. It gave me the perfect reason to leave, one I thought wouldn’t offend my father. I was wrong, and then he found out I like men, and I was in a relationship with one that was already crashing and burning, and he lost his shit.”

“And disowned you.”

Shannon nodded. “Is it wrong that I wish my sister would take the goddamn hint and leave me the fuck alone about my dad?”

“Not wrong.”

“My sister keeps trying to get me out there. I don’t understand why. She’s happy with a man. Unless she actually thinks I’d go back to my college ex. Shit…why the hell would she think that?”

“Male or female?”

“Female. I dumped her ass because she’s a fucking drama queen who wanted a ring, and too high-maintenance. She tried cheating on me to make me jealous enough to stake a claim. Instead, I left her for a man.”

Ryan took a seat in the next chair and watched him carefully. “You hook up with the guy before or after dumping her?”

“After. I’m not a cheater. I just knew he was what I wanted more and left her before ever taking things anywhere with Juno. Only, neither my sister, nor Ellen know about that. They only know the part about me leaving her because my dad was pushing me to marry her.”

His brow arched. “Your family is a mess.”

“Tell me about it,” Shannon muttered, pulling Ryan closer.

Ryan leaned forward and pressed his lips to Shannon’s. “Want a shake?”

He wanted food, but he nodded. They didn’t have much time. And they had less than a week left before they were going to be in two different places.

What if everything fell apart with the distance?

Ryan got up and moved through the kitchen, preparing their typical morning meal. As he filled the containers, Shannon leaned against the counter. “We should go.”

Ryan turned to Shannon and caught his cheek. “Hey, what’s going on? You’re too quiet?”

He sighed. “I’m not looking forward to going to Maryland. If my sister didn’t need me, I wouldn’t.”

“Why? Because of the ex? Or just your father?”

Shannon shook his head. “No. My sister.”

“I thought you wanted to go for her?”

Shannon pulled Ryan’s hand down and shrugged. “I do. But I don’t want her to try to dissuade me from you. She won’t, don’t worry about that. But she’s convinced I should choose women since I’m attracted to both.”

Ryan snorted. “Not that simple.”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t get it. And she can’t see us together, so I don’t see how I can change her mind, or at least get her to drop it.”

“I’m sorry. I’d say don’t go, but I can’t see that happening at this point. You’re a man of your word.”

“Unfortunately.” He let out a breath. “And I keep thinking about how fucking much I’m going to miss you.”

Ryan ducked his head, a smile on his lips. “I’ll be missing you just as hard, Shannon. You will hear from me every single day. I don’t care what’s going on, but I will contact you. I’m not letting you go.”

“I’m not worried about us surviving the distance. I just don’t like the idea of you being so far away. I won’t be able to touch you.”

Ryan groaned, leaning in for a kiss. “You’re coming over tonight, right?”

“As long as you want me to.”

“Mmm. I want every last moment I can get with you. So that’s a yes, Shannon. If you can be, I want you here.”

“I’ll be here.”

Ryan nodded, a smile on his lips. “Tonight.”

Shannon headed for the door. He didn’t bother to take his bag, which had several changes of clothes. He’d spent most of his time at Ryan’s instead of his own home. It was easier because that part of Hollywood had great security and kept the cameras away from the gates.

Shannon climbed into his car and tried to shut off his brain about all the possible things that could happen while they were in different places.

No sense in missing a man who wasn’t gone yet. There would be plenty of time for that later.

He pulled into the parking lot and found Luke there, a smile on his face as he read something on his phone while leaning against his Prius.

Ryan pulled in as he climbed out.

Shannon asked Luke, “What are you reading?”

“Something Leona’s working on. It’s good, but I can’t share.”

He nodded. “No worries. Just curious.”

Ryan chuckled. “She’s always working on something. I don’t think she knows how to take a true break from writing for more than a few days.”

“She doesn’t.” Luke chuckled. “But she’s good at fitting in writing at the most opportunistic times.”

“When?”

He chuckled. “When I’m driving us somewhere, on planes, just about anywhere when I’m busy with something.”

Ryan chuckled. “Seems like her brain never stops.”

“Not often,” Luke said, a devious smirk on his face.

Shannon had to laugh.